


Carry Me

by friendofspiderman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers Family, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Morgan Stark Needs a Hug (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Endgame, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Protective Happy Hogan, Sad, Uncle Happy Hogan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26425327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendofspiderman/pseuds/friendofspiderman
Summary: “He’s not here anymore, he talks to me in videos, but he made them before. And Daddy loves me, and he’s gone now.”“Yeah.” Was all Happy could manage. It was painful, listening to her recite what she’d been told again and again. Some days, she cried or yelled when she remembered. Today her recitations were more matter-of-fact than anything else."He won't come back this time." She said."No, Squirt. He won't."He hated the finality of it all.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Kudos: 7





	Carry Me

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. 

Tony had only been gone a month and a half, and Pepper had already sold the lake house. The airy country home had become suffocating in his absence. The crowded city gave her space to breathe. 

On the second day of unpacking at their new place, Morgan got antsy and Pepper needed a break. Happy volunteered to take the Little Miss and check out an ice cream place that sat just around the corner. 

"Thanks, Happy, I owe you one." Pepper said. "Put it on the work credit." 

"You got it, boss." Happy confirmed, sliding his wallet into his back pocket. 

"And Happy? Make sure she walks, okay?" 

* * *

Happy, who had been a near constant presence for Pepper and Morgan over the past month, knew the drill. 

Pepper had noticed, in the months before Tony's passing, that her husband had a tendency to baby their daughter. It was sweet, she'd said, but excessive. Happy had noticed, too, and overheard a few conversations here and there about the issue. 

"Tony, she is four. Not four months. She can walk into the house for dinner by herself." 

"C'mon, Pep, let me cuddle her as long as she'll let me. They're only little once, right? Unless… you want another?" He winked.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "When she gets to Kindergarten and they find out she doesn't know how to use her legs, it's your funeral." 

Tony had just laughed. 

When it _was_ his funeral, everyone carried Morgan everywhere. Like she would break if they didn't. And since then Morgan had become accustomed to being held whenever she wanted by the constant strew of callers—Uncle Rhodey, Happy, “Auntie Nebby.”

Happy understood why she was clingy. She was sad, and scared, and confused, and _four_. 

But Morgan went back to school next week, and Pepper needed her to be ready. She was working on the balance between giving Morgan the comfort she needed and fostering independence. 

* * *

Happy remembered all of this as he and Morgan walked out the door, hand-in-hand, discussing the large amounts of ice cream they planned to consume. 

So he wasn't entirely surprised when Morgan put up her arms and looked at him expectantly as they walked, shouting "Happy, carry me!" when he pretended not to notice. 

He grinned down at her as he shook his head. 

"We've talked about this, Squirt. Your Mom said you don't always need to be carried, remember?" 

Morgan put on a slight pout. "Just for a little bit? I'm _tired_." 

"We're almost there. Besides, you've got two legs, right? You gotta use 'em or they'll stop working." 

Her eyes widened. "They will?" 

Happy knew he was exaggerating, but it was just the kind of stuff he heard adults say to kids, so he nodded. "Yep. So keep 'em moving, keep 'em strong." 

“Okay.” She sighed, and Happy squeezed her hand. 

As a general rule, he didn't know how to deal with kids. And for years he'd never _had_ to know. But when Tony and Pepper had Morgan, Happy had felt an overwhelming duty to protect her. And if that meant taking her out to ice cream on a Saturday so Pepper could move forward in adjusting to life without Tony, he was going to do it right. 

When they arrived at the shop, Morgan snubbed Happy’s “yucky” flavor suggestions and opted for fruity ice cream with sprinkles.

They sat to enjoy their spoils, Morgan admiring the sprinkles animatedly. 

"They're shiny ones! Like glitter!" 

"Mmhmm. Sure are." 

“Like _glitter bombs_.” Her eyes shone. “Daddy made those. Do you wanna play with my glitter bombs today Happy?”

Happy had supervised all the packing and hadn’t seen any exploding capsules filled with the four-year-old’s favorite sparkly nuisance.

“I didn’t know your Daddy made glitter bombs.” He said carefully. “Does your Mom know if you packed them?”

Morgan shook her head as she took a bite, then talked through a mouth full of ice cream. “They were in Daddy’s garage, but we exploded all of ‘em, so he has to make me more now.”

Happy couldn’t breathe.

It had been at least a week since one of these slips. Morgan had trouble at first understanding that Tony’s passing meant she would never see him again. The grief counselor had told Pepper it was normal for kids her age to have difficulty grasping the concept of death. She’d said to be honest and straightforward with Morgan to help her process properly.

Pepper was usually there for these moments of confusion. Happy didn’t know what to say.

Morgan swallowed her ice cream and crinkled her forehead. She looked at him.

“He can’t make me glitter bombs because he’s gone away and not coming back.”

Happy exhaled. “Yeah, Squirt. I’m sorry.”

"Daddy's gone forever." She said quietly.

Happy's throat tightened, but he nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Morgan." 

“He’s not here anymore, he talks to me in videos, but he made them before. And Daddy loves me, and he’s gone now.”

“Yeah.” Was all Happy could manage. It was painful, listening to her recite what she’d been told again and again. Some days, she cried or yelled when she remembered. Today her recitations were more matter-of-fact than anything else.

"He won't come back this time." She said.

"No, Squirt. He won't."

He hated the finality of it all. 

"I want him to hold me." She said more loudly, ignoring her ice cream to kick pointedly at the table legs. Happy looked at her intently, unsure of what happened inside a preschooler’s grieving mind. 

"I miss your Daddy too." 

Morgan didn't respond to his statement. She began trailing her finger along a crack in the wall, abandoning her frozen treat altogether. Happy kept shoveling more of his dairy-free mint chocolate-chip into his mouth as if her happiness depended on it. As if it could bring Tony back. 

_I'm completely lost here, boss._

Morgan looked intensely contemplative, her little brow furrowed. 

_Hell, Tony, her thinking face is the same as yours._

"You okay, Squirt?" 

She was still fixated on that crack, her ice cream beginning to melt.

"I want Daddy to carry me. I wanna play chase, I want glitter bombs, and I wanna have juice pops, and I want him to hold me." 

"I wish he could, Morgan." 

It was heartbreaking, and it was infuriating. That Happy had spent the better years of his adult life trying to protect a man who was hell-bent on protecting the entire world. That when Tony had died as he succeeded in saving the universe, Happy felt an idiotic guilt, as if he could have done something to prevent it. 

It was heartbreaking and infuriating to be staring at the kid he never thought could have existed, and to know that her father was gone. That Happy was powerless to protect him, powerless to resurrect him, and powerless to carry the burden of grief for the best thing that had ever happened to Tony when she knew her Daddy wasn't coming back. 

_He wasn't coming back._

Happy was powerless. 

Morgan was mourning. 

And he couldn’t fix it.

By the end of their ice cream date, Happy had eaten his entire portion and tasted none of it. 

He tossed Morgan's barely-touched serving in the garbage. She didn't want it. 

She took his hand as they headed for the door. 

"Can I have juice pops later?" 

* * *

Happy carried her all the way home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, it's my first non-Spider-Man/Peter Parker fic! I was so nervous to post something outside of my usual world, but I enjoyed writing this so much. 
> 
> Happy and Morgan's scene in Endgame is one of my favorite MCU moments of all time. It was so sweet that I wanted to see more of them, so. Here we are. :) 
> 
> If you liked it and want to leave a comment, that would mean the world to me! I am still so new to writing and love hearing feedback. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
